PreTwilight: Friends
by trobokian queen
Summary: Heather Johnson had been Bella's friend since the first grade. How would her moving to Forks a year before Bella change the story of Twilight? Read and Find out! Major Twilight Drama!
1. Change

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Twilight.**

**A/N****: I know this is really different from my other work, but I got bored one day and decided to mess around with the idea of exploring some of the other Twilight characters, adding a few new ones, and getting them all a little more involved with the Cullens. I also wanted to explore what Bella might be up to in Arizona at the same time (And there will be a few chapters, or parts of chapters that will be in her pov.) Tell me what you think. **

Chapter 1: Change

"I promise to keep in touch, although I'm sure I won't have too much to tell you. Nothing exciting happens in small towns." I pushed a stubborn piece straight brown hair away from my clear blue eyes but it fell right back a few moments, later. I sighed.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay, Heather?" Bella asked for the millionth time. She was my best friend since the first grade, and I knew she was only concerned for me, but I wished with all my heart that she'd just stop asking.

No, I wasn't okay. My parents just died in a car accident a couple weeks ago and I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. Now I was getting shipped off to relatives I haven't even heard from since I was like eight, and I was moving to a sunless pathetic town called Forks.

But I had to put on a brave face for everyone, Bella especially. She had seen me break down when her mother invited me to move in with her after the accident until other arrangements could be made. I let my guard down, had myself a good cry and very loudly cursed my cruel fate. It didn't do at all. Bella depended on me to stay together. I was the one she relied on, and the one who usually made all the decisions about things. Me losing control just threw everything off course until we weren't on a course at all. It was just one bottomless black hole of grief and uncertainty.

I put on a smile for my best friend. "I'll be just fine, Bella. Don't worry about me."

If you ever, you know, need anything…" Bella started.

"I'll be sure to give you a call," I finished. I pulled my friend into a firm hug, knowing I probably wouldn't see her for a while. "Bye, Bella," I said.

Then I was getting on the plane and embarking on my new life with Aunt Gina and Uncle Rich. When I got off the plane, Aunt Gina was already there waiting. I surveyed her carefully as she walked toward me.

She had a long round face with dark eyes and long dark hair pulled back into a bun. She was wearing a dark pink shirt with dark jeans and a black sweater. She was smiling but a concerned look filled her eyes. More pity and more brave faces. Just great.

"Hey, there, honey," she greeted me with her long thin arms. "Are you hanging in there?"

I nodded. "Life happens." I quoted my favorite motto. "You just got to roll with it."

"That's a good attitude, Heather," she smiled approvingly. She gave me one last hug before saying. "I bet you're exhausted from the ride. Let's get you home."

I crossed my arms as we headed outside to the parking lot. Man it was cold here! I remember when I thought it would be a little nicer than this. I mean, after all, Washington wasn't too far from sunny California, and Forks was near the Pacific coast. But while I was at Renee's, she burst my one hope and told me all about the constant rain and the cloudy skies. Well, at least I was prepared.

I climbed into the passenger's seat of Aunt Gina's faded green Subaru Estate and noted how it smelled of coffee, smelly sketchers and air freshener.

As Aunt Gina started the car, she started talking about how much I would love Forks, despite the size and miniature population. She went on about all the friends I would have and how nice it was to live in such a tightly knit community and I had to refrain from laughing. There was no way I would like it here. Like I said before, nothing exciting ever happens in small towns. Ever. Especially in towns where the weather sucked too much to do anything worth while.

After a while, I couldn't take the encouragement any longer and asked Aunt Gina if we could just put on the radio. Music always seemed to calm me. And right now, I needed calm.

Rascal Flatts was playing Life is a Highway. It sure was. I sang along softly as we cruised along, trying to think forward, rather than back. What would my life be like? How would I like having to live with three crazy sweaty boys rather than being an only child? What kind of friends would I make at High school?

I shook my head, not being able to come up with any positive answers.

We got to the house about fifteen minutes later. It was a small two story house, painted strange light blue with navy shudders. My cousins that I hadn't seen in forever, Jackson, Nate, and Gabriel, sitting on the front porch steps passing a football around as they waited impatiently for us to pull in. They looked as though they couldn't wait to get our meeting over with, as though they all had places to be and Uncle Rich wasn't about to let them go off until they had greeted me. I wished they hadn't made such a big deal about me coming to stay with them.

Uncle Rich, salt and pepper hairline residing, and blue eyes gleaming gently, was standing at the base of the steps, leaning against the banister. When I climbed out of the car with all of my stuff, he shuffled over to me and wrapped me in huge bear hug that felt like it would leave a bruise.

"Hey, Uncle Rich," I said in a strangled voice.

"Good to see you kiddo. I wish it were under different circumstances, but we'll make the most of it, won't we?"

"I'll do my best," I replied honestly. When he finally released me, I made my way to the steps to where my cousins were. The one closest to me had dark golden hair that hung over his jade eyes. He was kind of pale looking, but I had kind of figured out after seeing all the people at the airport that the washed out look seemed to be "in" in Forks. "Gabriel?" I guessed as I surveyed him. Gabriel had always been the blonde and artistic one in the family. He was also my age.

"The very same," Gabriel grinned as he embraced me considerably more gently than his father had. "How you hanging in…"

"Don't you dare ask how I am," I whispered in his ear, "or I will seriously slap you."

I pulled back to find him grinning at me knowingly. "Nice to see you too," he covered for me. I returned his smile before moving on to the next cousin.

Jackson was the youngest, being about 14 ½ but he tried to act like he was older. He had his arms crossed over his chest and sported an "I'm too cool for you" attitude. I rumpled his thick, already messy brown hair before giving him a hug. "Some things will never change, Jacky. Good to see you."

Jackson glared as he hugged me awkwardly. "Don't call me Jacky or…"

"Love you, Jacky," I said sweetly and I kissed his cheek.

He must have been pretty close to smacking me because Uncle Rich grunted and called Jackson's name in a sort of "don't you dare" tone.

Lastly, I turned to Nate, the oldest, who would be graduating next year. His hair was the darkest of the three brothers and very likely the neatest, even though it still had a sort of easy style to it. His eyes were dark green, almost to the point where they looked both brown and green. He looked me up and down carefully. "My you've grown up," he commented with a smile. "I'm going to have to keep a constant eye on you when school starts."

"I can take care of myself, thanks." I told him kindly, before hugging him too. Nate had always been the party, sort of bad boy with a good heart that never let his siblings get away with doing half the trouble he gets himself into.

Aunt Gina and Uncle Rich were right behind me on the steps and were starting to show me into the house when Nate and Jackson made their excuses to leave. Jackson had football practice and Nate had a date. That left me with Gabriel who took my bags from me and started to lead me up the narrow stairway to where my room would be.

"Why don't _you_ have someplace to go?" I asked him curiously.

"I'm working on writing this book. I'm almost done and then I'll be able to submit it to a publisher."

"You write?" I stopped on the stairs and looked at him as though I was seeing my cousin for the first time. "That is so cool, Gabriel. What are you writing? May I read it, please?" I loved to read in my spare time. Action novels spliced with romance were the best. I wonder if Gabriel's writing is anything like that.

Gabriel almost seemed to blush. He looked down embarrassed. "You wouldn't like it."

I put a hand on my waist and mock glared at him. "Don't pretend to know what I like and don't like, Gabriel Morgan. You can leave what you have on my bed and I'll look at it tonight."

"It's poetry, he replied sheepishly, "but about your room. You ought to know before you go in there that it's a little crazy."

I had been expecting that. "What? Did you boys clear a space for me at the last minute or something?" I asked.

"No," Gabriel said slowly, "It was all Nate's doing. He invited a bunch of girls over to help decorate and put your room together. It was like a party. There were like 6 of them all crammed in that room with music blaring. Well, they all had their own tastes and ideas and Nate let them do what they wanted, thinking it all looked good to him. Long story short, it's really mismatched."

I opened my mouth, shut it, and shook my head. Only Nate would be that creative. "Let's go check it out," I declared bravely. Deep down, I was fairly apprehensive.

I pushed open the door and just gaped.

First off, the furniture was completely mismatched and old. The bookshelf, while I was happy to have it, was made of this really light wood while everything else was a range of darker hues. The dresser, having a rectangular mirror attachment, was made of really dark wood with faded gold handles that looked like they were going to fall off at any moment. It had tacky pink stars that were painted over the drawers. Oh dear.

The bed was pressed between the side wall and the back wall and had no back board. What really bothered me was the black and purple plaid comforter with the red sheets and pink pillows. I shut my eyes for a moment, hoping the abuse of color would disappear, but the eyesore was still there when I reopened them.

The good side was that I forgot the bed as soon as I saw the walls, which was the worse sight in the whole room. Part of a wall was covered from floor to ceiling with posters of country artists. The part next to it was covered in pictures of people I didn't even know, although I did recognize some with Nate, Gabriel and Jackson. Another part had nice miscellaneous art work and paintings of beaches and flowers, winter scenes and New York City, as well as stills from the African Savannah and little puppies and kittens. Another part looked kind of…gothic. There was black wall paper with skulls and crossbones on it with some red roses stapled to the ceiling. I grimaced. When I turned around, I found another part completely pink with a pink with white polka dotted wall lamp nailed into the wall. It was next to the bed. Another part of a wall was blue with sea shells, and that was right by a faded redwood colored desk that had a blue lava lamp. I looked up at the ceiling briefly and realized that the whole thing was painted to look like the sky. Half was night while the other was day with the sun and moon, starts and clouds. There was an old fan up there too with a light that looked like it had one busted bulb. Across the whole of the room were white Christmas lights, the only consistent thing in the bedroom.

I turned to Gabriel, trying not to look too mad. "Was it a joke?" I asked.

"You hate it, don't you?" he asked uneasily as he took another look about my crazy room.

"Hate doesn't even cover it," I told him, trying to keep my voice down so I didn't burst. I ought to be grateful that my aunt and uncle were taking me in but still! This was absolutely crazy! What had possessed Nate to let his girlfriends so this.

"Well, don't tell Nate." Gabriel advised. "He thought the girls did a good job and he seemed pretty excited for you to see it. He was hoping you might give some big compliment that he could pass on to the girls. The put a good 4-5 hours into all this, you know?"

I opened my mouth and shut it again. I was quiet for quite a while before I was able to say slowly, if not with a sarcastic edge to it, "I'll tell him how much I love it at dinner. After all, the posters are cool, and the whole theme, is very creative to say the least."

"I really have to get to my book," Gabriel said, "but later you can tell me what you really think, the unabridged version, and I swear I won't tell a soul."

I cracked a smile despite myself. Gabriel always had that effect on me. "I'm going to need to talk to someone about it," I told him seriously, "preferably _before_ I burst."

I heard Gabriel laughing as he walked out the door and back down the stairs. I shut the door quietly, then picked up one of the fluffy pink pillows and threw it at the Goth wall. Then, kicking my bags off my bed, I threw myself on it and cried all the tears I had pent up since the night of the accident until I fell asleep.

**Like it? Hate it? Please let me know what you think. I'll be posting the next chapter soon and I'll be introducing some of the canon characters. Yipee! **


	2. School Supplies

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Twilight.**

Chapter 2: School Supplies

Aunt Gina woke me up for dinner a few hours later. I wiped my face with the plaid blanket and followed her slowly down the stairs. Everyone was already there waiting.

"Hey," I said weakly as I took a seat between Gabriel and Aunt Gina.

Everyone started eating, except Nate, who was watching me carefully, as though waiting for me to say something. When I didn't, he turned in his chair to face me and began, "So, Heather, what do you think of your new room?"

Gabriel stifled a giggle and I put on my most convincing smile.

"I really like it," I told him. "It's so colorful and unique. Why?" I asked coyly.

Nate smiled, gratified. He bobbed his head up proudly before admitting that he and his friends had wanted to make me feel welcome and had spent the majority of last night decorating my room. Naturally Nate had overseen all of the details.

"You and your friends did all that?" I asked, really hamming it up for Gabriel's benefit until he asked to be excused to go to the kitchen. "That was so sweet of you," I told him. "it must have taken you guys forever."

"Oh yeah," he admitted, "but it was worth it for my cousin." He wrapped an arm around me. "I wanted you to feel at home here."

"Well, I do," I lied, actually starting to feel guilty about making such a fuss after hearing how sincere he was about it. Nate and his friends had absolutely no taste in interior design but I guess it was one of those instances where it's the thought that counts. "It's really great. Thanks so much."

"Oh, it was nothing, really." He waved it off. "I'm glad you like it."

"So, Heather," Uncle Rich interrupted, "do you feel up to doing a little school shopping? School starts next week, you know. You want to be prepared."

"Sure," I agreed, swallowing my last bite of food. "It's always good to get things out the way."

"I have our list," Gabriel added, pulling a crumbly piece of paper out of his back pocket as he emerged from the kitchen.

"Great," I said slowly, doubting our chances of being able to read that paper that looked so torn and pathetic.

After dishes were all cleaned up, we all headed over to WalMart. It was surprisingly crowded with students who, like us, were cramming at the last minute to get our school supplies before school started.

Gabriel handed me the list. "You keep it," he told me. "I think I pretty much already know what I need to get. If I forget anything, I'll come to confer with you. Do you mind getting your supplies by yourself?" he asked guiltily.

"I'm not five," I told him before turning my eyes downward to look at his list. Of course he had written it out himself. And his handwriting was the worst I had ever seen. I shook my head as I turned the paper at different angles, trying futilely to examine it. In fact, I was pouring so much attention into my examination, that I hadn't realized that I had started walking. Well, that is, until I crashed into something.

I looked up to see a boy with this spiky pale blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He looked at me with a sort of stunned expression before bending over to pick up a stack of notebooks and folders that he had dropped. I reflexively got down on the ground to help him, picking up a blue calculator, an English-Spanish dictionary, and a pack of pencils.

"Here," I said, handing them to him. I brushed a piece of hair out of my face as I continued. "I am so sorry," I told him quickly. "My cousin gave my his school list but it was all messy and I was trying so hard to figure out what it was I had to get and I wasn't looking where I was going." I took a breath. "Sorry."

I started to get up, when the blonde boy took my arm with a spare hand (how he managed to have a spare hand in the first place is completely beyond me) and he pulled us up together at the same time.

We were rather close and I got a chance to look at the boy I had knocked into more closely. He wasn't bad looking. I bet he was the popular, jock type. His face was kind of rounded, sort of youthful, although I guessed he was about my age.

I put some distance between us and held out my hand. "Hey," I said, "My name's Heather Johnson. I know this isn't the best way of meeting someone but…"

A look of recognition seemed to flicker across the boy's face, as if he knew me somehow. "You're that new girl," he confirmed. "The one coming to live with the Morgans. I'm Mike," he said, taking my hand. "Mike Newton."

"Pleased to meet you," I grinned.

"So, did you get here recently, or…"

"Yes," I answered quickly, "around 1 this afternoon."

"Wow, so you must still be… pretty new to this town." He commented. I could see where he was taking this, but I let him go on anyway. It would help me get my shopping done faster, if nothing else. Plus, Mike seemed like a nice guy.

"Complete stranger," I told him, shrugging my shoulders.

"So I was wondering," he continued. _Here it comes_, I thought. "Since we're in the same class, maybe we could look for our supplies together. I mean, I don't know if my list is any neater, but at least I can read my own handwriting. And, I could possibly point out some of the people that will be in school with you."

_I knew it! _I laughed about the list and let Mike guide me around WalMart. We talked casually as we grabbed our supplies, exchanging vague information, talking about school and the weather, until we found ourselves mostly alone in the section with all the highlighters and notecards.

"Hey, listen," he said, turning to me.

I raised my eyebrows.

"I heard about your parents and I'm… sorry. It's gotta be tough."

I looked down for a moment, then back up at him, my tears masked and my face clear and confident. "Yeah it's hard," I admitted, "but I'm fine. Thanks."

Mike nodded and seemed like he was about to say something else when I distracted him. "Who are they?" I asked, discreetly gesturing to a short, pixie like girl with cropped black hair that spiked out at the ends. She was standing beside a tall guy with honey blonde hair, who looked a little nervous and rigid. Both were extremely pale but very beautiful, almost like other worldly beautiful. I didn't notice at first, because I was just using them to refocus Mike's attention, but when I really looked at them, I couldn't help but gape.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mike shift his feet uncomfortably and frown. "Alice and Jasper Cullen, juniors," he replied hesitantly. "Dr. Cullen, the town doctor, and his wife took them in along with three other kids. They moved here last year and all of them are really weird."

"Why's that?" I turned to him curiously. "They seem cute." I watched as Alice laughed at something funny that Jasper must have said and his tight face lightened a little as he graced it with a small smile. They seemed like normal people to me.

"They're really tightly knit, you know? They all hang out together and there's no room for anyone else to really join in. They keep to themselves and they're all _dating_ each other." His eyes widened theatrically, as though he was telling me some deep dark secret.

I glanced at the Cullens, then back at Mike, giving him a quizzical look. "What do you mean they're all _dating_ each other?" I inquired. "They're not, like, related, are they?"

Mike shook his head, but he seemed disappointed that I didn't start freaking out or looking at Alice and Jasper funny. "No," he confirmed. "Well, I mean, Jasper had a twin, and Alice has two brothers—they don't date—but it's still weird, you know? I mean, they all live together."

I just shrugged. I mean, who was I to judge? And chances are, there was nothing abnormal going on, just some strange rumors like the ones that often get circulated in your average high school.

Mike picked up a pack of mechanical pencils and The Idiot's Guide to Geometry. "You're going to need these," he explained, handing them to me. "Math can be, you know, a challenge."

"Thanks," I said, glancing skeptically at the book. I hope he wasn't insinuating that I was an idiot, because that's terribly rude, especially after you just meet someone.

"So I was wondering…" he began again as we headed out of the aisle.

It was that voice again, with his classic opening. I hadn't known Mike an hour before I could tell when he was trying to ask a girl if they could hang out or go out or something similar. He was so transparent.

I suppressed a grin.

"There's this, 'before school starts' type of party at my house this Saturday. Everyone from our grade will be there. It'll be a good chance to get to know everyone so you won't be all awkward. Do you want to go?"

I didn't have to think for a moment. I loved parties. I'd have to beg and drag Bella before I could get her to go to one. And usually we'd leave early, but still. I knew how to make the most of anything and how to have a good time.

"What should I wear?" I asked.

Mike beamed, like an excited kid at Christmas. "Well, it's semi formal."

"Oh okay," I said quickly, understanding. "What time?"

"9:00. Actually, if you have difficulty finding a ride or anything, I'd be glad to pick you up."

"I was kind of thinking of going with my cousins," I started, watching Mike's face fall. "but if anything changes, I'll call you," I finished. "Could I have your number?"

I handed Mike my cell phone, so he could just program it into my list of contacts. Mike's spirits seemed to gather up again and he seemed like he had become Forks' official source of sunlight.

Poor Mike. He was such roller coaster of emotion. I almost felt like I was messing with him.

But of course I wasn't. I was just being friendly, and having friends is a healthy part of high school.

Mike walked me to the checkout, where I met Gabriel, Nate, and Jackson.

"Hey guys," I said enthusiastically as we walked up to them.

They all greeted me, except for Jackson, who was still mad at me for rumpling his hair and calling him Jacky. Nate nodded at Mike politely.

"So," Jackson said, strutting up to me, "we leave you alone for a half hour and you already have a boyfriend?" He was trying to get me back.

My cheeks colored with anger but I suppressed it with my cool façade. "I have a friend," I corrected gently, "and he was kind enough to invite to the Post Summer Semiformal at his house Saturday night." Mike looked at me with a sort of awe as I said it, probably wishing he had come up with something that clever. Post Summer Semiformal sounded a lot more impressive than the "before school starts" type of party.

"What do you think of that?" I asked, crossing my arms and looking passed Jackson, to Gabriel and Nate, who were both leaning against the side of the checkout.

Nate straightened. I winced as I notice him sporting "I'm the big protective responsible cousin" stance. He walked over to Mike, almost seeming to stare him down. "Is there going to be parental supervision?" he asked.

"Nate," I said seriously.

"Is there?"

"Oh…yeah, yeah of course!" Mike stammered.

"And no alcohol?" Nate's eyes narrowed. I rolled my eyes.

"We're sophomores, for goodness sake!" I exclaimed.

"No alcohol."

"None." Mike met my cousin's eyes but I noticed him gulp.

Nate pulled back a little, looking calmer. "Gabriel can take you," he said.

"Mike's taking me," I replied quickly, suddenly feeling defiant.

"Oh good. I'm sure there's room in the car for one more person," Nate declared. "It'll save on gas."

"Sure, no problem," Mike responded. He turned to me, looking a shade paler and added. "I'll uh, see you later, Heather."

"I'll call you," I yelled after him as he took his things over to another checkout on the other side of the store.

"What the heck was _that_?" I demanded on the way home. I had my arms crossed over my chest and I was sending Nate deadly glares through his rearview mirror.

"_That_," he said calmly, "was me looking out for you. You just got to town, you don't know everyone, and I don't want you getting yourself into any kind trouble."

"You mean like the kind of trouble you get yourself into?" I shot back.

"That's different. I'm older."

I was about to say something when Gabriel pulled me back and whispered in my ear. "He's always like this. 'I can do this and you can't' sort of thing. Don't worry. If you really want to go to the party with Mike Newton by yourself, I'll find a way to work it out, okay?"

I relaxed against the backseat of the car and took a breath. "Why are you so nice to me?" I turned to face him.

"Because we were friends when we were kids, if you'll remember. You threw a punch at that one boy when we were eight because he was beating me up." Gabriela cracked a smile. "Plus," he added. "Nate gets on my nerves too. We rebels have to stick together."

Later that night, after a long talk with Gabriel about how much I hated—I mean really _hated_—my room, I pulled out my laptop from one of my bags and checked my email. I had one letter from Bella.

_Dear Heather,_

_How are you doing in Forks? Is everything okay with your aunt and uncle and cousins and everything? I know everything will work out for you. You have a way of making things happen. I miss you. Call me._

_Bella_

I sighed. I missed her too. I missed sharing secrets and talking her into doing stupid things with me. I missed all of my old friends. I missed the warmth of Arizona. I missed everything familiar. I pinched myself in order to suppress another bout of tears. Once was enough already!

_Dear Bella,_ I typed, thinking about what I should tell her.

_How are you? I miss you too, but like you said, things are working out. Except my room. Nate and his…girlfriends? They decorated it and between us it is the worst nightmare you have ever seen! I'll send you pictures that will make your eyes bug out! We went school shopping today. I met this guy from my grade, Mike Newton, your average jock. He's taking me to this party next week before school starts. I'll try not to get too crazy! Lol! Anyway, I'll call you so you can keep me updated on everything exciting in Arizona!_

_Heather_

I hit the send button and shut down my laptop. I laid it on my desk beside the blue lava lamp and went to bed.

**Thanks for reading. Please read and review! I'd love some feedback. **


	3. Party

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

Chapter 3: Party

I looked at myself in the mirror. I had put my hair up in a bun, letting my straightened side bangs frame my face. I was wearing a royal blue dress with narrow straps. It was a low "v" cut and short, coming just to my knees. It gathered a little in the waist with a layered asymmetrical hem, a flower pin, the same royal blue color, on the right side. I was wearing strappy silver sandals that matched my small silver hoop earrings.

I studied myself in the mirror of my crazily mismatched bedroom, assessing my make up and overall appearance. I looked great. Really great, actually.

I strolled down the stairs confidently and was met at the bottom by Gabriel. He stared at me for a moment and frowned at me as though there was something wrong.

"What's up?" I inquired, my eyebrows furrowed. "Did I forget something?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Maybe Nate was right. Perhaps I should go with you in Mike's car."

I looked at him. No, I gaped at him. "You're kidding." It wasn't a question. There was no way that Gabriel would do something so embarrassing like that to me. He wouldn't, would he?

I must have started to look nervous because Gabriel laughed at me, outright. "Take a chill, Heather," he told me, putting his hands up defensively. "That's a cousin's way of saying you look really nice."

"Oh," I calmed down instantly, "thanks." As we walked down the stairs, I whispered, "So, how do you plan on getting to the party?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I was just going to steal Nate's car."

"Nice," I told him.

We walked out the front door and onto the deck to wait for Mike. We had both agreed that Gabriel would leave right after Mike picked me up.

Bright headlights lit up the front lawn and driveway as a 1964 AMC Rambler Classic, as Gabriel was kind enough to inform me, pulled into our driveway. It was a pretty old car. It wasn't in bad condition, but it was definitely old. No one in Arizona drove antiques like that.

Mike hopped out of the car and made his way up our porch steps. He stopped, halfway up and just stared at me. "Whoa," he said slowly, "you look…really…wow."

"Thanks," I flashed him a grin. I descended the steps carefully until we were standing on the same one. "You ready to go?" I asked eagerly.

Mike's smile slipped a little. "Yeah," he said, "is your cousin ready?"

"He's not coming with us," I replied quickly. "It's just you and me."

The smile crept back onto Mike's incredulous face as he again looked on me with a sort of awe. "That's great," he managed as he opened the passenger door of his decrepit car.

"So," I began, once we had started driving, "Got any good music?" I helped to Mike's CDS before he could respond. I went through each one of them, and was extraordinarily surprised. "You listen to techno?" I ask incredulously.

"Yeah," Mike replied a little embarrassed. He reached for the CDs to put them back under the stereo, but I pulled them back from him. Then, opening one of the CD cases, I popped a disc out, put it in the CD player and turned up the volume.

"Tehcno's not really my thing," I admitted, "but it's kinda cool."

"Really?"

I rolled my eyes. "You ought to know! You have four freakin' CDs in the car, and I suspect there's more where they came from."

When we arrived at the Newton's house, the driveway was filled with cars, and it seemed like the party had already started. One Republic's All the Right Moves blasted through the walls and I could make out the lyrics even from the end of the drive.

Mike walked me to the front door and we went inside. There were only a few lights on so the lighting was dim. There were tables of food and punch and a few kids playing a video game in Mike's spacious family room. It looked like the party may have been hopping a few moments ago, but right then, just about everyone was sitting and relaxing.

I did **not **come all the way to Mike's just to sit and relax. I could do that at Aunt Gina's.

Time for some serious Heather Johnson intervention.

I looked at Mike, and I crack a wicked grin. "Tonight has the potential to be great, Mike," I told him, "but we're going to have to kick things up a notch, and you, as the host, are going to make that happen."

"What do you mean?" he asked me, his face as blank a piece of copy paper. Clearly he's never really lived before.

"Just trust me," I winked. "Let me look at your best party CDs and we'll go from there."

Mike led me over to his stereo where a ton of CDs were stacked in a disorganized mess beside it. Mike grabbed the CD from the top. "Jessica Stanley gave this to me for the party," he explained as he handed it to me. It was called Today's Party Favorites.

I scanned the songs, critically weighing as to whether they were fun enough, fast enough, and good dancing material. "Not bad," I told him. Then, turning to the stereo, I quickly switched off the music.

For a moment, there was complete silence. A second later, I heard everyone shouting for someone to turn the music back on. I wasn't the least bit ruffled by everyone's shouts. Instead, I climbed on top of a chair and looked at everyone in the family room, and in the nearby hall. "Listen up everyone," I shouted so everyone could hear me clearly, "there's been a change to the party plans tonight, but it's all for you. Mike wanted to make sure you all remembered this night, so he proposed a dance off."

Some people groaned, but everyone else just listened, staring up at me curiously. The girls seemed especially interested. "Here's what we're going to do," I continued. "Everyone pair up into couples and sign this sign up sheet. "I held up a piece of paper that I had noticed lying on the table beside me. "As you sign, Mike and I will give you certain songs to choose to dance to. When all that's settled, we'll let the dancing begin. If there's anyone who doesn't want to dance, we need three judges! Thank you." I got off the chair, grabbed a pen, and sat at the table waiting for everyone to start coming up to sign up.

I looked back at Mike, and I motioned for him to sit next to me. "What do you think?" I asked.

"You're amazing," he declared passionately with an incredulous shake of his head.

"I know." I shrugged off the compliment. "Do you want to join the competition?"

"Heck, yeah," he declared enthusiastically. "You wanna be my partner?"

I pretended to think about it, then looked at Mike seriously. "How's your dancing?"

Mike held out his hand to me and gave me this odd, quirky look. "Try and keep up." He challenged.

For the first time since our acquaintance, I genuinely smiled at Mike. _Finally, a trace of back bone and initiative!_ I inwardly rejoiced. _There's hope for Mike Newton yet._

I was just about to accept his hand and start dancing, when the couples started to line up for the sign up. I sighed. "Duty calls," I told him, before turning to the others and helping them arrange their line up and songs.

The first couple comprised a tall blonde and a tall, tan dark haired boy. Mike explained that they were Lauren Mallory and Tyler Crawley. They signed up first and chose Beyonce's Crazy in Love.

"I'm guessing they are?" I joked. "Crazy in love?"

"Well," Mike began, "Lauren's been in love with Tyler since the first grade but he's never really been that into her. She's a spoilt brat, but I kinda feel bad for her."

"Hmmm" I pondered momentarily before turning my mind to something else. "What song do you want to use for our dance?" I asked.

Mike shrugged before handing me a CD. "I heard this one was good." He pointed to the last track. It was called Hollywood, performed by Madonna. I looked at it for a moment.

"Not bad?" I commented.

"But…?"

"But I've got something better."

About twenty minutes later, the dance off started. Mike and I went to the front of the Family Room, which was looking rather empty after having moved all the furniture. I sent Mike an encouraging look, before whispering. "You know what to do."

Mike stepped forward. "Alright," he said in a loud voice. "The Dance Off will now begin. To start us off we have Lauren Mallory and Tyler Crawley. Let's give it up for them!" As everyone applauded, I walked over to the stereo and set up the music. A moment later, I cued Lauren and Tyler before hitting the play button.

They started almost immediately, and I had to look away. If it was a beauty contest or a vote for Homecoming King and Queen, they'd definitely get my vote, but dancing was **not** their thing. Tyler was all wild and crazy while Lauren just swung her hips a little and spun around every once and a while. When they were mercifully done, the judges gave them a 5. I would have given them a 3 at best.

My cousin Gabriel went next with a nice looking girl with a head full of fiery red curls. Her name, I discovered after Mike's announcement, was Katie Marshall. There song was Let's Get it Started Again by the Black Eyed Peas.

They were definitely better than Tyler and Lauren. Katie was quick and graceful, and together with Gabriel, they proved a very creative, dynamic couple. The judges declared an 8, and the rest of the teens that had chickened out of dancing roared with applause. As the two walked out of the spotlight, a few people tapped Gabriel on the back and commented to Katie that they didn't know she could dance like that.

A few more couples took their turns until Mike announced to the enthusiastic crowd that he and I would go next. I quickly pulled out one of my own cds that I had brought to Mike's party and let it go to the first song—Trouble, performed by Pink.

Mike watched me as I popped in the cd. "Can you dance to it?" I challenged him without looking up.

"Yeah, no problem," he said. He didn't sound all that convincing. Oh well. I didn't care if we made a fool of ourselves. At the very least, we'd provide comic relief and still have a lot of fun.

The music started.

Mike took my hand and swung me so that I was standing in front of him with both my arms criss-crossed, hands in his. I tore my hands from his and spread them out with a flare, before turning my face toward Mike.

"Not bad," I smiled.

I swayed my hips and leaned to the side. Mike followed my lead, moving closer to me, until I swayed again and moved the other way. When he drew closer, I leaned into him, my hands tracing the back of his neck down to his shoulders and my hips still swaying. I gave him a quick, flirtatious sort of look before walking away.

I took about three steps and swung my left leg straight and high up, arching my back and extending my arms. Then, in a swift movement, Mike was pulling my right hand and yanking me back.

I took a few steps backward, pulled my hand from his, and we both turned into short tight spins. My hands clasped and whirled like a wave about me until Mike, clasped both of them with his own and lifted them up toward the ceiling. We were both standing very close, our bodies no more than an inch apart, if that. Then, with perfect grace, Mike leaned me back, one hand still holding mine, while the other supported my waist.

Mike's hand pulled farther from mine. I followed it, for the first time not exactly sure what we were doing next. I didn't have much time to think though, because Mike's circled the other side of my waist and before I knew it, he was lifting me up, twirling me up-side-down, and then in a moment I was back on my feet again with Mike already rushing into the next move.

And that was just the first verse and part of the refrain.

When the song was all over, and we had ended with a bang, our peers rated us with a 9.5. Mike and I took a bow and for the rest of the evening it was my turn to stare at him in awe.

Where had he learned to dance so well? I mean, I didn't mean to be judgy, but he just did not seem like he had that much creativity and attitude in him at all. He had been really amazing, and I'm usually the last one to ever hand out praise.

In the end though, we only came in second place. I was surprised when we had been beaten by some blonde cheerleader just because she was apparently really popular and because her partner was so hot the girl judges couldn't help but be a bit biased.

After the competition was all over, Mike and some of his friends started putting the family room back together. I was helping too, until I decided to jump on top of the couch while they were moving it back into its place.

"So…Mr. Next Winner on Dancing with the Stars," I addressed Mike. "Tell me the secret to your awesomeness."

Mike blushed a little at the praise. "Oh, I uh learned it back in California—where I used to live."

"You lived in California?" I asked. "Any more surprises I should know about?"

Mike laughed. "If I think of any, I'll let you know."

Mike drove me home around 11:30pm. I noticed that Gabriel must've beaten me home because Nate's car was already parked in the front gravel drive. I started to step out of the car when Mike met me around on the other side. "I'm uh, really glad you came," he said in his more usual, dumb flirt voice. I felt a hint of disappointment, but I kept my bright, vivacious attitude anyway. After all, I had had a blast tonight, and Mike had helped to make it happen.

"I'm so glad I was there," I replied. "You know how to throw a party."

"So…I was wondering," Mike said slowly, moving closer. As I studied him, I noticed Mike's eyes flickering with a strange gleam. _Oh wow_, I thought. _He looks completely smitten._

"Maybe," Mike continued, "we could go out sometime."

I returned his gaze. "That's sweet, Mike," I told him. I leaned in and kissed his cheek before making my way up our porch steps and to the front door. I opened the door, stepped one foot inside, and turned around to look at Mike. He stood leaning against his antique car as he watched me go. "I'm sure it'll be fun," I added enthusiastically. "I'll see you in school." Then I disappeared into the house and shut the door behind me.

_I have big plans for you, Mike Newton,_ I thought to myself,_ and you don't even know it yet._

**Thank you for reading! Please review! ;)**


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